FILM FORMER
Maltodextrin
- film former
A starch fragment that soaks up oil and water, which is what puts it in dry shampoos. It also carries spray-dried plant extracts and leaves a light film.
- products in our library
- 131
- of researched products
- 3%
- on the label, in our shampoos
- usually #23
- most common in
- Shampoo
- in water
- Water-soluble
At a glance
Four named levels, read from this ingredient’s chemical class, its charge, its solubility, or where it sits on the labels we have. More dots means more of the property named — never “better”.
How much of it is left on hair between washes.
What it takes to get it off the hair again.
What the polymer class can do, not what any bottle claims.
How well the film survives damp air, as a class.
| Property | Level | Out of |
|---|---|---|
| Buildup risk | Low | 1 of 5 |
| Rinse-out behaviour | Rinses clean | 5 of 5 |
| Hold | Not recorded | not recorded |
| Humidity resistance | Not recorded | not recorded |
What it does for a formula
What Maltodextrin does
The general function first, then how the role changes by product type where we have researched it.
The film is what holds a shape once the water has gone.
How firmly depends on the polymer class and how much of it is used.
Keeps a solid or a paste from crumbling or separating.
Included to reduce a greasy feel rather than to condition.
Charge
Charge is not recorded for this ingredient.
Solubility
Rinses out with water alone — it does not accumulate on hair between washes.
Where it appears
Where it appears
One row per product category in our library: how many products list it, what share of that category that is, and where it typically sits on the label.
| Product type | How common | Typical position on label ? |
|---|---|---|
Shampoo
32 products
|
secondary · #23 | |
Conditioner
27 products
|
secondary · #30 | |
Leave-in
15 products
|
secondary · #25 | |
Scalp treatment
13 products
|
secondary · #37 | |
Mask / treatment
10 products
|
secondary · #20 | |
Heat protectant
7 products
|
secondary · #16 | |
Styler: volumizer
6 products
|
secondary · #17 | |
Styler: gel
5 products
|
secondary · #18 | |
Styler: mousse
5 products
|
secondary · #13 | |
Styler: curl cream
4 products
|
secondary · #26 |
4 more product types
| Product type | How common | Typical position on label ? |
|---|---|---|
Co-wash
3 products
|
secondary · #29 | |
Styler: hairspray
2 products
|
supporting · #8 | |
Styler: edge control
1 product
|
secondary · #26 | |
Styler: smoothing cream
1 product
|
secondary · #19 |
| Product type | Products | Share of category | Median position | Earliest position | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shampoo | 32 | 4% | 23 | 8 | secondary |
| Conditioner | 27 | 4% | 30 | 6 | secondary |
| Leave-in | 15 | 4% | 25 | 11 | secondary |
| Scalp treatment | 13 | 8% | 37 | 4 | secondary |
| Mask / treatment | 10 | 3% | 20 | 12 | secondary |
| Heat protectant | 7 | 5% | 16 | 4 | secondary |
| Styler: volumizer | 6 | 9% | 17 | 7 | secondary |
| Styler: gel | 5 | 3% | 18 | 16 | secondary |
| Styler: mousse | 5 | 4% | 13 | 2 | secondary |
| Styler: curl cream | 4 | 4% | 26 | 10 | secondary |
| Co-wash | 3 | 3% | 29 | 19 | secondary |
| Styler: hairspray | 2 | 2% | 8 | 7 | supporting |
| Styler: edge control | 1 | 6% | 26 | 26 | secondary |
| Styler: smoothing cream | 1 | 2% | 19 | 19 | secondary |
No product-type differences have been researched yet — the reading below is computed from where it sits on the labels in our library.
Position footprint
Every listing in our library, by position on the label.
| Positions | Zone | Listings |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | Leading | 2 |
| 4-8 | Supporting | 8 |
| 9-15 | Secondary | 21 |
| 16-25 | Lower | 49 |
| 26+ | Trace | 62 |
How to read this
US labelling rules put ingredients above 1% in descending order of amount; below 1% they may be listed in any order.
So position tells you about relative amount only above that line, and we never convert a position into a percentage.
Who should pay attention
Conditional formulation guidance, scoped to a hair condition and to the positions where it is meaningful. It is not a conclusion about any finished product, and not a conclusion about you.
Takes up oil at the root, which is where fine hair goes flat first.
Film formers are what hold a style: they dry into a connected film across the strands so the shape resists movement.
How rigid the finish is depends on which polymer it is and what the formula pairs with it, not on there being one.
Read from this ingredient’s chemical class. Where we have researched the ingredient itself, that reading replaces the class one.
Why it matters to shoppers
What this ingredient is evidence of, what it is not evidence of, and what our own method can and cannot tell you.
- a style that holds
- a solid product that holds together
- oil absorption
- a rinse-clean feel
- an exact safety score — we do not publish one, for any ingredient
- how a finished product performs by itself — that is the whole formula, not one line of it
- the exact percentage in a bottle — label position never converts into a number
- a secondary film former, listed below the main ingredients in our shampoos
- it was on the label of every product we counted — we read printed ingredient lists, not marketing copy
- that a product is right or wrong for you
We do not publish safety scores or hazard grades. Where a regulator has published a restriction or a use condition, we state it and cite it; otherwise we describe what the ingredient does and stop.
Commonly paired with
Ingredients that appear alongside this one most often in our library. Near-universal ingredients are excluded — they pair with everything and tell you nothing.
- Caprylyl Glycol · 50
- Tocopherol · 47
- Benzyl Alcohol · 45
- Propanediol · 40
- Tocopheryl Acetate · 39
- Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice · 38
- Biotin · 37
- Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract · 35
- Behentrimonium Chloride · 33
- Cetyl Alcohol · 32
The number beside a name is how many products in our library list both.
These ingredients tend to appear together to hold on to water, deliver a stated effect, and carry the formula and let it dry.
Found in these products
The most prominent placements first. The badge is the position on that product’s own ingredient list.
Living Proof · Styler
Full Texturizing Foam - 5.0 oz
#2 on the label · $6.80/oz
Grow Gorgeous · Scalp treatment
Hair Density Serum Intense
#4 on the label · $25.00/oz
Olaplex · Heat protectant
Volumizing Blow Dry Mist
#4 on the label · $5.95/oz
Rusk · Conditioner
Elevate Weightless Volume Conditioner
#6 on the label · $2.10/oz
amika · Styler
Rising Star Volumizing Finishing Spray
#7 on the label · $5.66/oz
amika · Styler
Rising Star Volumizing Finishing Spray - 5.3 oz
#7 on the label · $5.66/oz
DevaCurl · Styler
SUPERMOUSSE Coconut Oil Infused Volumizer
#7 on the label · $5.37/oz
Rizos Curls · Heat protectant
Heat Protection Multivitamin Leave-In
#8 on the label · $1.62/oz
TGIN · Shampoo
Miracle RepaiRx Strengthening Shampoo
#8 on the label · $1.23/oz
amika · Heat protectant
Brooklyn Bombshell Blowout + Blow Dry Spray
#9 on the label · $4.78/oz
amika · Styler
Brooklyn Bombshell Blowout Spray - 6.7 oz
#9 on the label · $4.78/oz
Identity
What this entry is, and what our references call it.
No public-domain structure depiction is available for this entry.
Maltodextrin
- absorbent
- binder
- maltodextrin
For your hair?
Whether Maltodextrin matters for your hair depends on your hair.
the 8th most-listed film former or thickener in our libraryWhat this ingredient does, and where it sits on the labels we have researched.
A verdict on any product that contains it, and never a safety grade.
We do not physically test your hair. Everything above is read from the ingredient lists in our library and from published references — the consultation is what turns it into a plan.
References
Seed entry — sourcing in progress Written from our reference work; primary sourcing is still being attached.
No published source is attached to this entry yet.
How this page was made
- Every number above is counted from the ingredient lists in our own product library — 131 of 3889 researched products list this ingredient. Nothing on this page is written per ingredient.
- The dots are named levels read from an ingredient’s chemical class, charge, solubility, or where it sits on the labels we have — never a score.
- US labelling rules put ingredients above 1% in descending order of amount; below 1% they may be listed in any order. Position tells you about relative amount only above that line, and we never convert a position into a percentage.
- The prominence bands (leading, supporting, secondary) are the same ones the product pages use to read a single label, applied here to the median position across a category.
- We do not publish safety scores or hazard grades. Where a regulator has published a restriction or a use condition, we state it and cite it; otherwise we describe what the ingredient does and stop.
- Identifiers and references appear only when a published source is attached to this entry; where none is, the row is simply absent rather than filled in.
- This is cosmetic information, not medical advice, and nothing here diagnoses or treats a health condition.
- Entry last updated 2026-08-28. Product-page methodology: the product library.